Hillary Clinton will withdraw from the race to become the Democratic candidatefor the US presidency, and back her rival Barack Obama, her campaign says.

On Tuesday, Mr. Obama gained enough delegates to win the nomination, after the final votes of the primary season. Mrs. Clinton has still not admitted in public that she lost the contest, but on Saturday she will do so “and express her support for Senator Obama”.

Mr. Obama has already announced a team to help select his running mate. Reports that Mrs. Clinton was ready to concede came after she made a conference call to senior Democrats in Congress.

At a Democratic Party event in Washington, Mrs. Clinton will also “express her support… for party unity”, her communications director Howard Wolfson said. Earlier, it had been announced that the event would be held on Friday, but Mr. Wolfson said it had been delayed a day “to accommodate more of Senator Clinton’s supporters who want to attend”.

Hillary had the ability to have a multi-collective voters and supporters often from all sides of the American political life; the big question now is if these people are going to support Obama.